10 Free Plug-ins to Enhance Photoshop

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

Whether you’re talking about a browser or an advanced 3D graphics modeler, plug-ins are a way to get more punch out of your application. And when it comes to upgrading a program’s usability, Photoshop boasts one of the largest collections of plug-ins out there.

While some have a registration fee and others are offered free by Adobe or independent developers, Photoshop plug-ins do a variety of things, such as creating new image effects or performing actions that might otherwise be impossible. Although Photoshop has a wealth of built-in features, designers and power users sometimes want more, and some plug-ins can help out novices who may otherwise have to wrestle with a confusing series of menus or dialog boxes.

We’ve assembled our top 10 favorite Photoshop plug-ins, all of which fall within the filters categoryby far the most extensive group of plug-ins. Filters are pretty easy to set up in Photoshop. All you have to do is install or copy the filter in Photoshop’s Filter folder, and then they’ll load whenever Photoshop boots. They can be quickly accessed under the Filters menu.

Our test machine is a PC running Windows XP and Photoshop CS1. All plug-ins we tested are Windows-compatible, and most are Mac OS–compatible too. Many of these filters can also be used for older versions of Photoshop, and even other graphics apps such as Paint Shop Pro or PhotoPaint. The benefit of running a filter on an older version of Photoshop is that you do a better job at extending its capabilities, even if Adobe added those features in later releases. Continued…

This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this page. Terms of use.

ExtremeTech Newsletter

Subscribe Today to get the latest ExtremeTech news delivered right to your inbox.

Email

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our
Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time.